and Cherubim aloud,[1] and the choir sings the Sanctus and Benedictus, exactly in our form. Soon after come the words of Institution,[2] Anamnesis and Epiklesis. There follows the great Intercession, with a long list of saints, mostly Armenian, and prayers for the dead. The deacon at the right of the altar takes up this, and to each clause the choir answers: "Remember, O Lord, and have mercy." Another synapte by the deacon follows, and the choir sings the Lord's Prayer. The celebrant says its introduction and embolism. There is then an elevation (the deacon says in Greek: "Proschumen"), with the form: "Unto the holiness of the holy," and a long blessing. The small curtain is closed and the celebrant makes the fraction in four parts, of which he dips three into the chalice. Before his Communion he kisses the Blessed Sacrament and says: "I confess and I believe that thou art Christ the Son of God, who didst bear the sins of the world." He adds some Communion prayers and receives Communion under separate kinds (taking the particle not intincted). Meanwhile outside they sing a beautiful hymn with alleluias. The curtain is drawn back, the deacon, clergy and laity make their Communion. There follow last prayers and a synapte. Then comes an astonishing Romanism. The celebrant sings the last Gospel (St. John i. 1-14). He blesses the people. Psalm xxxiii. is sung, and they go back to the sacristy and unvest.[3] Afterwards bread, blessed at the beginning (nesḥkhar), is distributed. On the eves of the Epiphany and Easter they celebrate the holy liturgy late in the afternoon.[4]
1 Prayers said silently ((
Greek characters)) are khorhhrdabar; "aloud" ((Greek characters)) is 'i dsain.
3 Throughout the liturgy the celebrant says prayers in a low voice, while the deacon and choir sing aloud. He ends these prayers with a last clause ((Greek characters)) aloud.
- ↑ 1
- ↑ The command to "Do this in memory of me" is not quoted explicitly. There is a little elevation before the epiklesis, at the words: "We offer unto thee of thine own, in all things, and for all things" — a Latin practice.
- ↑ 3
- ↑ The Armenian liturgy has been translated many times. It is published in Armenian and English by the Vardapet Isaiah Asdvadzadouriants (Liturgy of the Holy Apostolic Church of Armenia, London, 1887), in English only by "two Armenian priests" (The Divine Liturgy of the Holy Apostolic Church of Armenia (Cope and Fenwick, 1908). The best and most convenient version is in Brightman: Eastern Liturgies (Oxford, 1896), pp. 412-457.
